Congress Clears FY2024 Funding for NASA, NOAA, FAA

FY2024 funding for NASA, NOAA and the FAA cleared the Senate tonight hours before funding would have run out at midnight. President Biden is expected to sign the bill expeditiously. Funding for departments and agencies, including DOD, in six other appropriations bills are still pending with a March 22 expiration date. All of this occurs more than 5 months into FY2024 and just days before Biden submits his budget request for FY2025.

After months of wrangling and four Continuing Resolutions (CRs) to keep the government operating after FY2024 began on October 1, 2023, Congress has finally passed a $467.5 billion FY2024 “minibus” bill for six of the 12 regular appropriations bills: Agriculture, Commerce-Justice-Science (including NASA and NOAA), Energy-Water, Interior, Milcon-VA, and Transportation-HUD (including the FAA and its Office of Commercial Space Transportation).

Negotiations over funding for the other six, including DOD, continue with March 22 as the deadline.

A minibus is a smaller version of an “omnibus” bill that incorporates all 12 regular appropriations bills.

The House passed the minibus Wednesday and the Senate followed suit this evening less than 5 hours before the CR expires at midnight.

Agreed to, 75-22: Motion to concur in the House amendment to the Senate amendment to H.R.4366, Consolidated Appropriations Act 2024.

— Senate Cloakroom (@SenateCloakroom) March 9, 2024

NASA is getting a significant cut not just from the President’s FY2024 request, but from its current FY2023 funding level. The agency gets $24.875 billion for FY2024, more than $2 billion less than Biden’s $27.185 billion request. It also is half a billion less than NASA’s FY2023 funding level of $25.384 billion. Taking inflation into account, it’s a substantial reduction in purchasing power.

At NOAA, satellite programs get less than requested, but more than FY2023. The Office of Space Commerce will drop from $70 million in FY2023 to $65 million.

The FAA’s Office of Commercial Space Transportation will get its requested increase from $38 million to $42 million for FY2024.

As Congress continues to debate FY2024 funding for DOD and departments and agencies in five other appropriations bills —  Financial Services-General Government (including the FCC), Homeland Security, Labor-HHS, Legislative Branch, and State-Foreign Ops — Biden will submit his FY2025 budget request on Monday.